Fred Leavitt (1991) provided a brief account of criteria that help a person to become a good scientist. The following is a quotation from his book.
"Good scientists differ from lesser lights in at least three respects. Perhaps the most important is in the types of questions they ask. ...... In addition to asking the right questions, good scientists are efficient. They design their studies to answer the research question as thoroughly, inexpensively, and unambiguously as possible. This requires knowledge of apparatus, experimental design, sampling, test administration, and analysis of data. They are aware of known pitfalls in their fields, which is usually accomplished through reviews of the literature. Another aspect of efficiency is ability to develop a methodology for answering a question. This may take creativity of a high order.......Good scientists make fewer errors than poor ones."
Source of quotation: Leavitt, F. (1991). Research Methods for Behavioral Scientists. IA: WCB Publishers (pp.17-18).
Copyright © 2000 by Hisham S. Gabr. All rights reserved.
This page last revised: 09/05/03